Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) on Tuesday said he was taken aback by what he called the rancorous personal attacks from his party after he proposed a change to the Taiwanese voting system.

Taiwan's military has response measures in place and will closely monitor aircraft flying over the Taiwan Strait to ensure the country's safety, a defense official said Tuesday after China agreed to delay its launch of controversial new flight routes.

In a joint press conference with the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 陸委會), the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA, 民航局) announced yesterday that they have reached a preliminary agreement with mainland China to delay the implementation of flight path M503 that was originally scheduled to start on March 5.

A man suspected of being behind the kidnapping of a Taiwanese businessman and his family in Thailand in 2009 was recently arrested in the central city of Taichung, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB, 刑事局) announced.